Ductless air conditioner?

[LD92599]

We are about to start an addition for my mom to move in with us; we are considering a ductless a/c system.

Anyone have this? Experiences? Pro/con?

[KLD313]

I used to sell them when I was in the a/ c business. If you need to do one room and can't extend your existing duct work it's a great solution. I like the Mitsubishi ones best because they are easy to work on and get parts for. They're efficient and quiet too. If you have specific questions I can try to answer them for you or if you want to PM me that's fine too.

[chlobo]

We have a unit and beware, they grow mold and are very difficult to clean. We have a fujitsu so maybe it varies by manufacturer.

[tiapam]

Do you know about the high velocity systems? I think Spacepak and Unico are the two big names. We put Spacepak on our first floor with radiator heat. It was not cheap but that was for about 1000 sq feet in an old house, so lots of quirks to work around. It is not ductless but the ducts are much smaller than typical and can get around tighter spaces as they are flexible. We already had traditional central AC upstairs and our electric bill was basically the same after we installed the second system. So it is very efficient.

What kind of heat will you put in the addition?

[kali]

We have one to supplement our central air. Actually, we set it up so the central air now only supplies the 2nd two floors and the ductless system supplies the first floor. We live in an old rowhouse, so as a pp mentioned, lots of quirks to work around, including high ceilings, limited room for additional ducts, uneven insulation...

Pros:
-it has been energy efficient and does a great job cooling
-we bought a system that can accommodate up to 4 wall units and only installed 2, so we have room to expand later
-you can get one with a heat pump too
-less expensive than replacing the central air with a larger system and/or adding ducts (we would have had to do both)
-less expensive than the high velocity systems

Cons:
-the big ugly thing hanging on the wall.
-you can't really rely on the heat pump as your main heat source because they don't work very well below about 35 degrees I think

[LD92599]

Thanks for the feedback, it's helpful. We're just starting to look and the plumber/HVAC guy today suggested a Fujitsu system. It's approx 350sq feet.